Written Answers

Wednesday 5 April 2000

Scottish Executive

Autistic Children

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under the age of 10, by local authority area, have been diagnosed with autism in each year since 1990.

Mr Sam Galbraith: This information is not held centrally

Building Control

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the legislation governing the current system of building control.

Sarah Boyack: I recently approved a major policy review of the building control system. A consultation paper that will invite ideas on the reform of the system will be issued on 6 April and I would encourage all interested individuals, organisations and authorities to respond to the consultation.

Community Care

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the reference in paragraph 189 of Sensing Progress: Social Work Services for People with Sensory Impairment to "insufficient numbers of qualified rehabilitation workers", how it would define a sufficient number of rehabilitation workers and what progress it is making in ensuring that there are sufficient numbers of qualified rehabilitation workers.

Mr Sam Galbraith: It is for local authorities to assess the number of qualified rehabilitation workers they require based on the needs of their total population who have a visual impairment. In 1999-2000 a grant of £150,000 from section 9 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1998 was awarded to six voluntary organisations to take forward the recommendations of Sensing Progress .

Criminal Records

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make an announcement about its decision on who should pay for police checks with the Scottish Criminal Records Office on volunteers and paid staff working with young people.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Review Group which I announced would consider the impact of charges for criminal records on the voluntary sector is chaired by Jackie Baillie, Deputy Minister for Communities. It is meeting regularly and plans to report later this year.

Electricity

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has submitted or intends to submit a response to the consultation document issued by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFFGEM) on future electricity wholesale trading arrangements in Scotland and whether any such response indicated or will indicate support or opposition to the OFFGEM proposals, including the implications for Scotland of the proposals that (a) supply and generation be separated from distribution and transmission, (b) there should be created a single system operation for Scotland, (c) there should be cuts in price for transporting electricity, (d) there should be wider access to the interconductor between Scotland and England and (e) there should be cuts in the regulated Scottish price for wholesale electricity.

Henry McLeish: Although electricity regulation is a reserved matter, the Executive has always kept in close touch with electricity suppliers in Scotland and with the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM) as the structure of the energy market responds to changes in the business and regulatory environment.

Employment

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in order to promote economic development and protect jobs in the Prestwick area, it made any representations to the Department of Trade and Industry or Her Majesty’s Treasury requesting them to expedite the authorisation of a repayable launch investment loan to BAE systems for the development of the A3XX aircraft.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including potential job creation in Scotland arising from the A3XX project.

European Funding

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs it estimates will not be created or protected as a result of the loss of power to extend aid beyond the de minimis amount, because the assisted area status map has not been agreed between the Department of Trade and Industry and the European Commission, and whether any applications have not proceeded or have been withdrawn as a result of the restriction on the amount of aid by operation of the de minimis rule, in consequence of the assisted area status map not being agreed.

Henry McLeish: The main form of aid provided by the Scottish Executive, to create and safeguard jobs, is Regional Selective Assistance (RSA). The ending of the 1993-99 Assisted Areas map was well publicised and we received a large number of RSA applications prior to the end of 1999. We are not aware of any RSA applications not proceeding or being withdrawn, in consequence of the assisted area status map not being agreed.

Farmers

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce an early retirement package for farmers as set out in EC Regulation 1750/1999 as introduced by the Agenda 2000 Common Agricultural Policy.

Ross Finnie: Early retirement schemes are not mandatory on member states, and I have no plans to implement a scheme in Scotland.

Food Labelling

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers and remit the Food Standards Agency will have in relation to food labelling.

Susan Deacon: Food labelling is a devolved matter and the Scottish Parliament has powers to legislate in this area but only within the parameters of EU legislation. The Food Standards Agency is responsible for implementing EU legislation as it relates to labelling standards and for providing advice to Scottish Ministers on food labelling and other issues. The Food Standards Agency will require enforcement authorities to ensure that standards are met, so that consumers have sufficient information to make informed choices about the food they buy.

Health

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ask the Scottish Health Technology Assessment Centre to review the effectiveness of combination therapy treatment for hepatitis C.

Susan Deacon: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence in England (NICE) is currently considering Ribavirin/alfa interferon therapy for hepatitis C. The Health Technology Board for Scotland (formerly the Scottish Health Technology Assessment Centre), which was established on 1 April, will establish arrangements with NICE to ensure that the outcome of its assessment is available to clinicians in Scotland.

Health

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why Scotland only has observer status on the Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Susan Deacon: The working group was set up by the English Chief Medical Officer, and its remit extends only to producing good practice guidelines for England. It would not be appropriate for Scottish representatives to take a direct part in this. However, we wanted to monitor the group's work with a view to adopting or adapting the guidelines for Scotland, and therefore sought and were willingly given observer status.

Health

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken in order to develop an understanding of both the organic and psychological factors affecting myalgic encephalomyelitis sufferers.

Susan Deacon: A major research project associated with the working group established by the English Chief Medical Officer to devise good practice guidance is studying the causes and effects of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. The Scottish Executive Health Department has observer representation on the group and is closely monitoring its progress.

Information Technology

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many computers there are in primary schools in Scotland, broken down by local authority area.

Peter Peacock: The Annual Survey of Information and Communications Technology, carried out across a sample of Scottish schools in October 1999, enabled the number of computers in primary schools to be estimated as 34,400. Of these, an estimated 19,000 are modern computers, defined as being less than four years old. Figures for the number of modern computers in each local authority area will be available when the results of the 1999 School Census are published.

Information Technology

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many computers there are in secondary schools in Scotland, broken down by local authority area.

Peter Peacock: The Annual Survey of Information and Communications Technology, carried out across a sample of Scottish schools in October 1999, enabled the number of computers in secondary schools to be estimated as 69,100. Of these, an estimated 38,200 are modern computers, defined as being less than four years old. Figures for the number of modern computers in each local authority area will be available when the results of the 1999 School Census are published.

Information Technology

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in Scotland have computers with high-speed connections to the Internet.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally.

Information Technology

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines "computer" for education purposes.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has not published a definition of a computer for educational purposes.

Information Technology

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish teachers in each local authority area have a school-provided e-mail address and what progress is being made in ensuring that all Scottish teachers will have an e-mail address.

Peter Peacock: The Annual Survey of Information and Communications Technology, carried out across a sample of Scottish schools in October 1999, showed that 12% of teachers had access to e-mail. The information requested is not available by local authority area. We are aware that since the survey was carried out a number of local authorities have provided e-mail addresses to all their teachers. We expect that this year’s survey will show a considerably higher percentage.

Information Technology

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary schools in each local authority area have an on-site IT technical support available to them.

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many secondary schools in each local authority area have an on-site IT technical support available to them.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally.

Information Technology

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any Scottish schools have developed their own intranet to store, share, and disseminate quickly information and resources.

Peter Peacock: Yes.

Mining

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has recently had regarding the future of the Longannet deep-pit.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive, and before it, The Scottish Office, has always taken a close interest in the future of the Longannet deep mine and has maintained close contact with Mining Scotland. The company has kept Scottish Ministers informed on a day-to-day basis of the issues that were recently facing the deep mine. Ministers are delighted that new shareholder funding has been made available to enable the mine to continue in operation and they wish Mining Scotland well under its new ownership.

Mining

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to assist the proposed 3-D seismic survey at the Longannet complex.

Henry McLeish: Mining Scotland is currently in discussion with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Scottish Executive about financing its overall operational requirements for the year ahead.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many letters it has received from MSPs to date; how long on average it has taken to answer each letter; how many letters are still to receive substantive answers, and how much it costs to answer each letter, using the same means of analysis as is used to assess the average cost of each Parliamentary Question.

Mr Tom McCabe: I apologise for the delay in providing the answer to this question which arose because of an administrative error. We are reviewing procedures to minimise the risk of such errors in future.

  Between 1 July and 31 December, Ministers replied to 3,719 letters from MSPs and MPs.

  The volume of correspondence from MSPs and MPs has risen by about a third since the establishment of the Parliament. The proportion receiving replies within the target of 17 working days has fallen from around 60% before May 1999 to 41% for the period between July and December 1999.

  To help improve response times, the Executive is improving and standardising the recording, monitoring and workflow systems used to handle ministerial correspondence. The introduction of a new corporate system will enable central scanning, logging and allocation of all ministerial correspondence and will produce management information not readily available at present. This will include information on cases in progress and average response times. The introduction of the new system is due to be completed in the spring of 2000.

  Correspondence is handled by staff in relevant policy areas as part of their general responsibilities. Specific work on the handling of correspondence is not budgeted for or recorded separately. A study of the cost of answering ministerial correspondence is planned after the new system has been introduced across the Executive: this will provide cost estimates on a comparable basis to those used for Parliamentary Questions. The results of this study will be made available to members.

Non-Domestic Rates

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from business organisations to reassess the calculation of the non-domestic rate poundage for 2000-01 and to ensure the continuation of the uniform business rate throughout the United Kingdom; whether it will give details of such representations; whether any organisations support abandoning the uniform business rate and, if so, to provide details; whether Scotland will have a 10.1% higher non-domestic rate poundage level than in England in 2000-01, and whether it has any plans to reassess this level.

Mr Jack McConnell: I received representations from and/or held meetings on the forthcoming revaluation of non-domestic rates, including the issue of the rate poundage, with the Forum of Private Business, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Scottish Council Development and Industry, CBI Scotland, the Scottish Tourism Forum, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, the Scottish Valuation and Rating Council, the Chemical Industries Association, Scottish Financial Enterprise and the Scottish Retail Consortium.

  I confirmed the Uniform Scottish Rate Poundage for 2000-01 on 1 March at 45.8p. The poundage in England is to be 41.6p. I explained the effect of this in my previous answer of 28 January (S1W-3768, Written Answers Report, Vol. 4, No 5). There are no plans to reassess the figure.

Roads

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Midlothian Council’s proposals for the A701 are compatible with Article 37 of the European Habitats Directive and, if so, how.

Sarah Boyack: There is no Article 37 in the European Habitats Directive.

Roads

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions (a) Ministers and (b) officials corresponded with objectors whilst considering Midlothian Council’s proposals to develop a new alignment of the A701.

Sarah Boyack: The Minister for Transport and the Environment replied to three correspondents whilst considering the Notice of Intention to Develop in respect of proposed transport improvements to the A701. In addition, the Scottish Executive received 60 letters of objection and a petition with 502 signatures during this period and all of these were answered by officials.

Roads

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it gave to letters and petitions regarding realignment of the A701 received by it and the former Scottish Office prior to September 1999.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive gave full consideration to all letters and petitions received in connection with the Notice of Intention to Develop, whether submitted before or after September 1999.

Roads

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to meet Falkirk and West Lothian Councils to discuss the Avon Gorge route from the M8 to the M9.

Sarah Boyack: The matter was discussed at my meeting with representatives of Falkirk, West Lothian, and North Lanarkshire Councils on 31 January 2000.

Social Exclusion

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to tackle poverty and social exclusion in areas not covered by a Social Inclusion Partnership, such as Glasgow Kelvin.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Glasgow Alliance is the over-arching body responsible for the regeneration agenda in the city. Its partners are Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Development Agency, Greater Glasgow Health Board, Scottish Homes, Scottish Executive, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector and Scottish Business in the Community.

  The Alliance is committed to making Glasgow a more inclusive society. Their strategy and the policies of their partners in relation to education, training, employment, housing and health, seek to enable more people to participate in the social, economic, political and cultural life of the city.

  In addition to the work of the Alliance, over £2.1 billion public sector funding went into Glasgow during 1999-2000 from the Scottish Executive Grant. The Scottish Executive also recently announced Special Deprivation Payments of £8.68 million for Glasgow City Council in recognition of the high levels of deprivation and poverty in the city. This payment is over and above the grant support of £1,339 given to the council per head of population.

Sport

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will, as a matter of urgency, consult with all the partnership bodies involved in the Puma Edinburgh Marathon 1999 in order to seek to reverse the decision taken to cancel this year’s race.

Rhona Brankin: No. This is a matter for the organisers and sponsors concerned.

Sport

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate was contained in the Puma Edinburgh Marathon Race Director’s report of the "growth potential", showing this for each of the years 1999 to 2002 and setting out the number of entrants estimated as participating in each year, the expenditure generated by the runners and their supporters, and the impact in terms of full-time equivalent jobs in each year.

Rhona Brankin: While the economic evaluation of the 1999 event does demonstrate potential for growth, this is dependent on significant increases in the number of competitors and supporters. At the time the decision not to hold the event in 2000 was taken, there had been fewer than half the number of applications as at the equivalent date last year.

  The detailed growth potential, as outlined in the economic impact assessment of the 1999 event, is illustrated in the table below, but again it must be stressed that achieving the designated target of runners is the main determinant in realising these figures.

  


Year

  

Number 

  of Runners

  

Gross 

  Expenditure

  

Net 

  Expenditure

  

Full-Time 

  Equivalent Jobs

  



1999

  

3,725

  

£587,290

  

£553,023

  

16

  



2000

  

10,000

  

£1,573,937

  

£1,482,101

  

42.3

  



2001

  

15,000

  

£2,365,017

  

£2,227,022

  

63.6

  



2002

  

20,000

  

£3,135,747

  

£3,004,523

  

86

Sustainable Development

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit, membership and work programme is of the Ministerial Group on Sustainable Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: The Ministerial Group on Sustainable Scotland was established as part of the delivery of the Programme for Government commitment to integrate the principles of environmentally and socially sustainable development into all Government policies.

  The remit is to:

  identify priorities for action on sustainable development in Scotland;

  co-ordinate implementation action;

  support Cabinet colleagues in embedding sustainable development in their policies and programmes;

  report to Cabinet on these matters.

  The members of the group are listed below, but others may be invited to join as the work of the group develops.

  Sarah Boyack MSP Minister for Transport and the Environment

  Ms Wendy Alexander MSP Minister for Communities

  Mr Jack McConnell MSP Minister for Finance

  Nicol Stephen MSP Deputy Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning

  Kevin Dunion OBE Friends of the Earth Scotland

  Mark Hope Shell UK Exploration and Production

  At its first two meetings the group reviewed the task ahead and identified the main priorities for sustainable development in Scotland as resource use, energy and travel. It set in train work on developing indicators of sustainable development and on guidance for public bodies. Over coming months it will examine policy proofing mechanisms, greening government and procurement. The group expects to consult widely as it makes progress and will report to Parliament in the autumn.

Transport

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will receive any of the extra revenue generated by the increase in fuel duty announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2000-01 budget to spend directly on improving rural transport.

Sarah Boyack: I would refer Mr Wallace to the Minister for Finance’s statement of 30 March.

Waste Disposal

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage sewerage authorities to invest in new methods of disposal of domestic waste, such as composting and fertiliser production, as alternatives to injection into agricultural land.

Sarah Boyack: Recycling of sludge to agricultural land is the most sustainable environmental option for disposal or re-use of sludge in most cases. It is controlled under the Sewage Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 and a supporting Code of Practice. Sludge may be recycled by spreading on land or injection into it, depending on how the sludge has been treated, and the Code of Practice lists acceptable treatment processes, including composting. Sewage sludge contains significant proportions of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter and is a fertiliser in its own right. Following a recent agreement between the British Retail Consortium and the water industry, which sets even tighter voluntary standards, including ruling out altogether the use of untreated sludge on farmland, we plan to amend the current Regulations to increase further the statutory safety standards.

Water Industry

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4697 by Sarah Boyack on 21 March 2000, what discussions it has had with the East of Scotland Water Authority regarding the improvement of Fife’s drainage and sewerage system and whether it has instructed the authority to prioritise certain projects.

Sarah Boyack: My officials have regular discussions with all of the Scottish Water Authorities about the whole range of responsibilities relating to their water and sewerage duties and powers under the relevant legislation, including those responsibilities imposed by European legislation.

  It is for the authorities to establish priorities within their areas, taking account of the size of their capital expenditure programmes, of the requirements set out in the Quality and Standards paper (ISBN 0 7480 8281 6) including those projects which require to be completed in order to meet the tight deadlines required under European Union environmental regulations.

Water Industry

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public meetings the Water Industry Commissioner has held since his appointment and how many he intends to hold.

Sarah Boyack: The Commissioner has held one public meeting, plus a number of meetings with a range of customer organisations, since his appointment on 1 November.

  Once the three Water Industry Consultative Committees are appointed, the Commissioner will hold at least four public meetings with each committee each year. He is also establishing customer panels to provide him with regular input from all groups of customers.

Water Industry

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to abolish the office of the Water Industry Commissioner and instead reform the Scottish Water and Sewerage Customers Council as a consumer watchdog.

Sarah Boyack: No.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will provide a breakdown of the costs to date associated with the Holyrood project by separate budgets referred to paragraph 4.6 of the Spencely report and what was the basis for calculating these costs.

Sir David Steel: The information is as follows:

  


Description

  

Cost 

  to date

  



Landscaping 

  and roadworks

  

These 

  are not matters for the Parliament budget as they fall outside 

  the site.

  



Project 

  Team staff

  

£401,422

  



HPT Site 

  Accommodation

  

Nil

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what the size is in square meters of the Holyrood site and what the size is in square meters of the building footprint for the latest designs produced by the design team.

Sir David Steel: The Holyrood site is approximately 17,000m 2 and the gross floor area of the building footprint is 7,483m 2 at garden level.

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S1W-230 by him on 8 July 1999, what proportion of the total area of the Parliament building is identified as circulation space, for each of the cost reports contained in paragraph 4.2 of the Spencely Report.

Sir David Steel: The figures for circulation space given below are calculated from the balance of net area to gross area and shown opposite the design dates they relate to.

  


01.12.97 

  - 26.03.99

  

Approx. 

  17%

  



25.05.99

  

Approx. 

  33%

  



30.08.99 

  - 27.09.99

  

Approx. 

  40%

  



14.02.00

  

Approx. 

  31%

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what work contracts had been let in respect of the new Parliament building by the date of appointment of John Spencely; what was the date of signing and the date of commencement of each contract, and whether any contracts have been signed in respect of construction works since Mr Spencely’s appointment.

Sir David Steel: The information is as follows:

  


Works Package

  

Date 

  of Authorisation

  

Site 

  Start

  



1. Demolitions

  

07.08.98

  

12.10.98

  



2. Tower 

  Cranes

  

10.09.99

  

06.11.99

  



3. QH scaffolding

  

28.02.00

  

20.03.00

  



4. Well 

  probing

  

21.07.99

  

22.07.99

  



5. Well 

  drilling

  

25.10.99

  

13.12.99

  



6. Retention

  

16.04.99

  

19.04.99

  



7. Asbestos/Pigeon 

  Dropping (from Canongate Buildings)

  

18.11.99

  

29.11.99

  



8. Piling

  

27.04.99

  

31.05.99

  



9. Substructure 

  Concrete (West)

  

28.09.99

  

12.10.99

  



10. Excavation

  

17.06.99

  

19.07.99

  



11. MSP 

  Frame

  

14.02.00

  

10.04.00

  



  No contracts have been let since Mr Spencely’s appointment.

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what estimate the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has made of the cost of car parking provision at Holyrood (a) in total, (b) by square meter and (c) per car parking space, and whether it will detail these costs for each of the cost reports contained in paragraph 4.2 of the Spencely Report.

Sir David Steel: The car park forms part of the substructure works package for the west part of the site and comprises 45% of the total west basement area. The costs for the car parking area and the building structure support cannot be separately identified.

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what is (a) the total value of the contracts awarded to date in respect of the Holyrood project, (b) the percentage of the total value that related to prime costs, provisional sums and contingency, and (c) the estimated value of those contracts at completion.

Sir David Steel: The information is as follows:

  The total value of works packages awarded to date is £13.5 million.

  The level of provision sums is on average 2%. The project cost estimate contains an overall contingency allowance which is not allocated to individual works packages.

  The estimated final value of the works packages awarded to date is £15 million.

  These costs exclude site purchase, demolition, archaeology, design team fees and VAT.

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what estimate of works costs would be used in determining outstanding fees for each member of the Holyrood design team if the project is cancelled.

Sir David Steel: The base works cost estimate will be used in the final fee calculation for each of the design team members and will directly relate to the amount of work done to the date of cancellation. The SPCB’s agreement will be required.

Holyrood Project

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer,  further to the answer to question S1W-232 by him on 8 July 1999, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will list the numbers and categories of staff to be accommodated in the new Parliament building for each of the cost reports contained in paragraph 4.2 of the Spencely Report.

Sir David Steel: I have updated in the table below the information given in my answer to question S1W-232 to reflect the staff and wider occupancy levels covered in the latest design scheme. It is not possible for me to provide figures that can be readily applied to fit in with the table referred to in Mr Spencely’s report.

  Note: The additional numbers recorded for March 2000 do not all translate into additional space requirements. For example, an adjustment to the scheme design for the MSP Block now enables two research staff to occupy the office space adjustment to each MSP room.

  


Staff/Worker 

  Category1


Original 

  Brief 
(£50 

  million)2


Revised 

  Brief 
(£62 

  million)2


Position 

  at March 2000 (£108)2




MSPs + MSPs’ 

  researcher/secretary3


258

  

258

  

3326




Clerks, 

  Administrative staff, Executive staff assigned to Ministers4


153

  

260

  

355

  



Facilities 

  and Security5 Management and contracted service providers

  

302

  

290

  

303

  



  Notes:

  1. Staffing estimates for facilities management and security based on anticipated requirements (November 1998) at Holyrood. Clerks and other administrative staff as estimated at March 1999.

  2. Excludes VAT, fees, contingencies, etc.

  3. Original and Revised Briefs: allows one space per MSP for researcher/secretary (see note 6 below for March 2000).

  4. Includes parliamentary clerks and administrative staff (excluding facilities and security management) and Executive staff assigned to Ministers who will use the building as necessary.

  5. Includes parliamentary facilities and security management and possible contracted service providers e.g. mailroom, catering and day cleaners. Includes part-time staff.

  6. Covers MSPs, their researchers and secretaries, party resource centre staff and support staff to Business Managers.